Pakistani found guilty of Iran-linked plot to kill Trump, US officials
The Straits Times
The man during testimony said he expected to be caught before anyone was killed. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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NEW YORK – A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran was found guilty on March 6 of plotting to assassinate US President Donald Trump or other US officials in retaliation for the American military killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, prosecutors said.
Asif Raza Merchant allegedly sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or a government official in the United States, prosecutors established during the trial in a federal court in Brooklyn.
Commander Soleimani, the head of Iran’s foreign military operations, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed to avenge his killing.
During his trial on March 4, Merchant testified that he was forced into the plot to protect his family in the Iranian capital Tehran from the Guards, adding that he thought he would get caught before anyone was killed, multiple media outlets reported.
He said he was never ordered to kill a specific person but noted his Iranian contact had mentioned three people in connection with the plot – Mr Trump, former US president Joe Biden and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
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